


Opening Closed Doors

by fields_of_clover



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Multi, Secret Fitzsimmons babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-07-22 23:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7458244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fields_of_clover/pseuds/fields_of_clover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Director Coulson and Agent Fitz seek out Jemma's help years after she's left SHIELD, but there are a couple of surprises, not currently up for discussion.</p><p>Just a blurb... that lived in my mind for a bit...</p><p>One-shot... As of December 17, 2016... no longer a one-shot...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lifeinlegends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeinlegends/gifts), [ItsMeGetOverIt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsMeGetOverIt/gifts).



"You shouldn't be here," she said, opening the screen door, and stepping out onto her wrap-around porch, and into the afternoon sun.

She had on a simple sundress, her hair was pulled back into a smooth ponytail, and no make-up covered the freckles on her upturned nose or rosy cheeks.

She had an empty laundry basket balanced on her hip, and walked past them, refusing to even engage them in whatever conversation had brought them to her door, "You need to go."

"Jemma, we just want to talk," Director Coulson said calmly, trailing her out into the yard, "We need your help with something."

She walked through the grass on her bare feet, and started removing and folding towels that had dried out in the sunlight on the clothes line, placing them neatly in the basket set on the lawn by her tiny feet with brightly painted pink toenails.

Rural Iowa had really grown on her. It was beautiful and open, and she felt safe living in her big farm house a few miles outside of the small, non-descript town.

It was early September, and still warm and sunny, but she was definitely not interested in whatever SHIELD thought they needed from her.

"I gave SHIELD years, but I am now retired... and you both need to go."

"Jemma... be reasonable."

That was the first time he'd spoken, and she turned on him with fire in her eyes, "Be reasonable? You chose to stay and save the world, Leo, not me. I am no longer an agent of SHIELD, so why don't you go find a 'reasonable,' ACTIVE agent to consult, and get the hell off my property."

"Jemma, please," Director Coulson spoke softly, trying again.

She was agitated, and it was quite evident that she wanted them to leave immediately, "I didn't invite you here... and I haven't seen any of you for over six years. I need you to go. Right now."

She scooped up her basket of towels, and walked toward the steps of her porch, then she froze for a moment, seeing the yellow bus coming to a stop at the end of her drive, right next to her pale green mailbox.

She turned over her shoulder and looked Fitz straight in the eye, "This changes nothing."

Then, she turned on Coulson, "Director Coulson, I must insist that you remove Agent Fitz from my property as soon as humanly possible, as my personal life is no longer any concern of SHIELD or any of its operatives."

Then, she set down the basket at the edge of the porch, and waved to the bus driver as the doors jerkily swung open.

Out tumbled a tiny slip of a girl with chestnut waves, wearing pink and white striped overalls, already laughing, and running with a large poster board in one hand, a tardis lunch box in the other, and a bright blue backpack slung onto her back.

She only took about five steps before she turned back, waiting. Then, a second little girl tumbled out, approximately the same size, but with blond curls, a hot pink back pack, and a Yoda lunch box.

They didn't notice that they had company, initially, falling into twin-speak with one another, neither ever completely finishing a thought out loud, but both knowing exactly what the other meant, regardless.

"Hi, Mama," they said in unison, when they reached Jemma at the edge of the porch.

Jemma smiled wide, "Hello, babies... Go on in and change for dance. These men are leaving, so we'll have just enough time for a snack, before we have to get going."

"Is that Leo, Mama?" the dark haired girl asked quietly, pausing next to Jemma for a moment, curiously looking over the two men in their yard.

She nodded, "He is here, because SHIELD sent him to ask me a question, Ana, but he will be leaving, with this gentleman, when he goes," she said, indicating Director Coulson, with a nod of her head.

The other child turned, "So, he's not here because of us?" 

Jemma knelt down, pulling her girls into her arms, and speaking softly, so the others wouldn't overhear, "We haven't talked about it, Eva."

She squeezed them both tight, and sighed, "And now is not exactly the time."

She stood, guiding the girls towards the house, "Go on in, girls. I'll be inside in a few minutes. Promise."

Director Coulson looked at Jemma, then at the two girls climbing the stairs, then back at Jemma again, "What is going on here, Jemma?"

The girls looked hesitantly back at their mother, but did as they were told, and as soon as they shut the screen door behind them. She whirled on them.

"My girls are none of your business... Either of you... and I want you both to leave, now."

"Jemma-"

"Leave it, Leo. Go save the rest of the world. I assure you that I can take care of this three acres of it all by myself."

"But they're-"

"They're what? Yours? No... They are mine... Showing up here, years too late, after zero contact, and thinking that SHIELD or you have any right to ask me for anything, sorry... I don't owe you anything... and I don't want anything in return."

Eva ran out onto the porch in a black leotard, "Mama, do you know where my tutu is?"

She turned, smiling at her daughter, "In the laundry room, Baby, folded on top of the dryer."

"Thanks, Mama," she spun, and ran back into the house, but the other child ran out onto the porch immediately after, in a pale pink leotard and matching pink tutu.

"Mama, do you know where my iPod is?"

"In your cubby in the mudroom, Ana. I found it in your jacket pocket last week... You need to be careful, Punkin, or it's going to go through the wash."

"I know... I'm sorry... Thank you, Mama," then, she smiled, turning and running back into the house on her bare feet.

"As you can see, I already have plans, so you two need to go now," she said dismissively.

She picked up the laundry basket, and went into the house letting the screen door swing closed behind her.

Coulson turned to Fitz, "You and Jemma, huh?"

Fitz shrugged, not meeting his superior's inquisitive gaze.

"I'm assuming you didn't know that you have daughters."

"No... that is a new development," he said gazing at the door longingly.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Fitz sighed heavily, "Right now? Nothing... I know you saw the leg strap on Jemma... If I try to talk to her right now, she may shoot me, and I'm not overly confident she still carries icer bullets... Could be the real thing."

"So... that's it?"

"No... This is very far from over, and Jemma knows that, as well as I do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna give it a go at a few more chapters... before I return to my other sorely neglected stories.

"What're you looking at?" 

Fitz startled, jumping slightly and rapidly minimizing the screen he'd been viewing, before he spun around in his chair guiltily, "Um-nothing, just... nothing."

Daisy tilted her head, "Fitz... Come on... I am asking you as a courtesy. We both know that I can track every keystroke you've made and see for myself... But, I am giving you a chance to tell me, so I don't have to... ... I'm worried about you....You've been acting really weird lately... and I want to know what is going on... Now."

He sighed, then nodded, ducking his head slightly, "A few weeks ago Coulson and I went to see Jemma."

"I know... Is that what this is about?"

He cleared his throat, "Um, Jemma... She... Well, she..."

Daisy sighed, interrupting, "She declined to help.... Yeah... She is allowed to do that, Fitz. She retired."

"There's more," he ground out quietly.

"What?"

He hesitated to answer, and she huffed out an exasperated sigh.

"Spill it," she said in her most domineering voice.

He spun back around, his hands going immediately to his keyboard.

"Fitz-"

"No, no... no... Um-just... Just let me show you."

She walked up behind him, placing her hands on the back of his chair, and waited. Then, an amazingly clear, live satellite feed popped up on the screen.

She took in the two children happily running around in a wide open yard, jackets on, and hoods up, belying the cooling air of where they were located.

"What am I looking at Fitz?"

He sighed, ducking his head even as he turned in his chair to look at her, "Those are... They are... my daughters."

Her eyebrows shot up, as she repeated that thought over and over in her mind, "Your daughters?"

"Um, yeah... Mine... and Jemma's."

Her mouth dropped open a bit, and she whispered, "Fitz, I have so many questions for you right now."

"I know... " Then he threw up his arms in frustration, "I know!"

"Daisy," he whined, looking at her miserably, "What am I supposed to do? I wasn't... I never... I guess I've always thought that I'd stay with SHIELD until I was no longer needed... I have never wanted to leave... have never even thought of retiring... until..."

She sighed, "Until now."

He nodded, then stood bracing his arms on the edge of the table, taking a big breath in, then releasing it, "I've just... I've missed so much..."

"What did Jemma say?"

"Nothing... She... She just wanted Coulson and me to leave... and she tried to get us to go, before the girls got home from school... She didn't want me to know about them, Daisy..."

"Was she upset?"

"She was," he paused to think for a moment, "agitated."

"You showed up at her house after not contacting her for years, Fitz. How was she supposed to act?" Daisy asked bluntly.

"I don't know..." he sighed, and dragged a palm over his face, "I just..."

"Just what?" Daisy asked pointedly.

"I've missed her... You know?" he said, dropping back into his seat, "And I thought that maybe she... might have missed me, too."

"You kept on living your life without her, Fitz... It's not fair for you to expect her to put hers on hold because of your absence."

"I know. And I-I didn't... I don't. I-"

"Fitz... Jemma could be married... and those little girls may already have a father figure in their lives... someone they call 'daddy'... Did you even think about that?"

"I-um... I... Jemma isn't married," he cleared his throat, "and never has been according to public record."

She motioned for him to keep going, so he continued, "When she retired, she was entitled to the proceeds from two of her patents... So, I guess she used a little bit of it to buy an old farm in Iowa... She-um... She became a licensed veterinarian after she left SHIELD, and she runs a small animal clinic in town out of the old feed store. It's called Gemini..."

He sighed, "At least... at least that's what the village website says..."

"Did you pull your daughters' birth certificates?"

He shook his head, "No... um-that's... That's as far as I got... before I got side-tracked... I just-I wanted to see them again."

"Would you like my help?"

He hopped up and swung the chair around for her, indicating she should take a seat, then let go and let her spin into place in front of his keyboard.

She paused watching the children play, then gasped quietly, when one of the little hoods fell back revealing pale blond curls and rosy pink cheeks.

She whispered, "God, Fitz... She looks exactly like you."

He cleared his throat behind her, and when he spoke his voice was hoarse, "I know... They-um... They're fraternal... ... The other one looks exactly like Jem."

She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but was unable to hold it in place for long, so she turned back to the screen and brought up a new window, "Do you know their birthdays? Or names? Or the county in Iowa where they were born?"

Fitz shook his head, "No... I don't know where she went when she left... She called one Ana, for sure... and I think I overheard Eva for the other one... but I-I don't... I don't know..."

"It's okay... I'll find them..." 

Instead of searching for the girls, she searched for Jemma... and after several keystrokes and several more firewalls, she had Jemma's confidential medical records open on the screen.

"They were born May 4, 2015... so they... are five years old," she said scanning the record, then she started to ramble, reading just the pertinent portions she ran across.

"Twin A weighed six pounds, four ounces, and Twin B weighed five pounds, fifteen ounces..."

"Says here 'Mother labored alone, and has no support persons visiting her.'"

"God... She was in labor for thirty-four hours, Fitz... Alone..."

"Here-Here it is... Twin A became Anastasia Philomena... and Twin B became Evangeline Calliope Skye... So, she... She named her babies after Coulson and... and me?"

He cleared his throat behind her, then spoke quietly, "She loved you."

"Apparently, she loved you, too. You're listed, and they have your last name."

"It's not Simmons?"

"No... She didn't even hyphenate it... It's just Fitz."


End file.
